I, who had been thinking for a while, shook my head as if I had a headache.
“Let’s ask Carsis when he comes.”
Rather than suffering alone, it would have been better for her to tell Carsis everything and ask him what I had been wondering about.
Thinking so, I sat down with my knees together in the water with a trembling heart and waited for Carsis.
How much time has passed like that?
I felt a presence along with the sound of the door opening.
While waiting for Carsis, my eyes, which had been dozing off, slowly opened.
'I see Carsis has come.'
In the first place, this was a place where only Clepios's people could enter, so I naturally assumed that Carsis had returned and put on the gown that was lying next to me.
Then I looked back and said.
“You came sooner than I thought. What happened that made you..."
“Ellie.”
But my words were cut off by the voice that followed.
Even though the tone was lower than before, I could hear it right away.
'This voice is...'
In an instant, I moved my stiff body and looked at the owner of the voice.
Crimson eyes are revealed through white steam and golden hair that always sparkles.
He is not Carsis.
“...Ernest.”
It was Ernest.
And the moment I faced him, all my thoughts were paralyzed.
So much so that I even forgot to close my gown.
“Why are you here...”
Ernest raised the corners of his mouth at my reaction.
“You look like you’ve seen the dead. Ellie.”
Then he took one step closer to me, then another.
“The fiancée I had to break up with... No, no. We even had a wedding, so should we call ourselves a couple now?”
The sight of Ernest smiling with a self-deprecating smile was unfamiliar.
“Aren’t you happy to be reunited with your husband after such a long time?”
“...”
“I’m so happy. I get to see my wife, who I thought was dead.”
Then, Ernest slowly looked me down from top to bottom.
Then his gaze stopped at one place.
A red mark is clearly visible on the pure white nape of the neck.
I sensing his gaze, quickly opened my gown.
But perhaps my urgent gestures only irritated Ernest's nerves even more.
The man's brow furrowed.
'It's dangerous.'
At the same time, a red warning sound flashed in my head.
The Ernest of today is not the same as the one I knew before.
We were no longer the loving couple that people envied.
We were just the perpetrator and the victim.
I pretended to push my flowing hair back and took off one earring naturally.
I hope I never have to use my powers again.
“Ellie.”
While I was concentrating on taking off my earrings, Ernest was already within reach.
“I guess you were having a good time.”
As he ran his fingers over the traces of Carsis drawn on the pure white skin.
“It seems Carsis is pretty good. To the point of betraying me and my family.”
His fingers gradually began to wrap around my neck.
“Did you know? That Carsis inherited the blood of the Clepius family.”
As soon as he finished speaking his words, which were filled with anger, strength began to build in his hands.
“Ugh. E, Ernest..."
My face twisted as my breathing suddenly became tight.
I tried to grab the man's wrist to stop him, but it wasn't enough.
“Answer me, Ellie.”
Looking into Ernest's half-sweetened eyes, I was convinced.
That I had only one choice left.
I whose breathing was starting to get out of hand, looked into Ernest's eyes.
Then I gave him an order.
“Hey, let go of that... Ernes. And, quietly leave the palace...”
Get out of here before Carsis sees you.
It was the last consideration I could give him.
“...”
At my command, Ernest's body flinched and his hands gave out.
However.
'...What?'
His grip on my neck was still tight, though his strength had slightly relaxed.
'Power...'
Ernest was not empowered.
My eyes shot open wide in shock as if someone had hit the back of my head with a hammer.
And it was the same with Ernest.
“...Just now, that.”
He looked down at me with a harder face than before.
“Surely not, power...?”
Only then did I come to my senses and my eyes began to shake violently.
‘Why isn’t the power working...!'
Ernest, who was confused for a moment like me, soon burst into laughter.
“It’s definitely power, yes. That feeling just now was power. The power of submission that subdues the other person...”
Ernest, who had been mumbling something for a while, grabbed my neck tightly again.
With a power that is incomparable to that of the past.
“Ugh.”
A painful groan escaped my lips involuntarily.
But what chills me more than the pain of my throat being strangled is...
It was Ernest's two eyes looking at me.
“You’re not Cretian, are you?”
There was only one family that had the power of obedience.
A family that is now extinct. No, it should have been extinct.
Ernest's eyes lit up with anger as he belatedly realized my true identity.
“It was you, the real traitor.”
***
The place he arrived at after receiving Jason's urgent call was an abandoned palace located at the outermost part of the palace.
This was once a palace used by concubines who were not favored by the Emperor. It was not even properly managed and was practically a ruin.
Angry footsteps echoed through the hallway, and Carsis, guided by Jason, reached a small room on the first floor.
“This is it.”
What Jason was pointing to was an old fireplace. More precisely, a secret door disguised as a fireplace.
Behind the fireplace, there was a passage leading somewhere.
Carsis knelt down and looked inside carefully.
“I discovered it while I was inspecting the palace extensively as you had previously ordered. When I went through the passage, I found that it was connected to the Rose Palace.”
“It’s the Rose Palace...”
For a moment, he was annoyed at the fact that his time with Ellie had been interrupted.
Carsis' face quickly became serious at the rather important matter.
The ruined palace they were in was located close to the northern entrance of the palace.
It is probably a secret passage installed to escape from the palace in case of emergency.
Carsis thought back to the past when Ellie had tried to run away from the Rose Palace with her maid.
Even then, she questioned the maid, thinking there might be a secret passage connecting the Rose Palace and the outside of the palace, but she found nothing.
It was when he thought of the woman who had never opened her mouth even while being brutally tortured.
Jason, who was standing nearby, continued speaking.
“But there were signs of recent use.”
“Recently?”
“Yes. I looked into it because I thought it might be the traces of the maid who was caught last time, but the footprints left inside are estimated to be those of an adult male and were created only two or three days ago. I believe that at least two adult males are currently infiltrating the palace somewhere.”
As Jason said, when he shined the light on the floor, he saw the footprints of two or more people.
Carsis, who was looking at them carefully, asked.
“Where exactly in the Rose Palace did this passage lead?”
“It was the reception room on the first floor.”
“The first-floor reception room...”
At those words, Carsis' eyebrows twitched.
The place where the maid and Ellie were supposed to meet was the third-floor study.
The secret passage is on the first floor, so why did they have to meet in the study on the third floor?
That meant there wasn't just one secret passage leading to the Rose Palace.
'Tsk.'
There is usually only one secret passageway per palace.
There were already at least two secret passages that could only be expected in the Rose Palace.
That means there are many more secret passages in Sollerian.
Maybe there are some all over the room.
It would be nice to have a separate blueprint, but secret passageways are usually not included in blueprints.
Even those who created secret passages were immediately killed, and no one other than the royal family was made aware of the existence of the secret passages.
“Is this abandoned palace the only passageway we’ve discovered so far?”
“Yes. For now, there is only this passageway connecting to the Rose Palace.”
Something was strange.
It's been quite some time since he started to investigate the palace extensively.
And yet, the only secret passage he discovered was in this abandoned palace.
From the remnants' point of view, it was also a passage that they would not suffer any loss even if they knew about it.
Furthermore.
“I discovered it while I was inspecting the palace extensively as you had previously ordered. When I went through the passage, I found that it was connected to the Rose Palace.”
“It’s the Rose Palace...”
For a moment, he was annoyed at the fact that his time with Ellie had been interrupted.
Carsis' face quickly became serious at the rather important matter.
The ruined palace they were in was located close to the northern entrance of the palace.
It is probably a secret passage installed to escape from the palace in case of emergency.
Carsis thought back to the past when Ellie had tried to run away from the Rose Palace with her maid.
Even then, she questioned the maid, thinking there might be a secret passage connecting the Rose Palace and the outside of the palace, but she found nothing.
It was when he thought of the woman who had never opened her mouth even while being brutally tortured.
Jason, who was standing nearby, continued speaking.
“But there were signs of recent use.”
“Recently?”
“Yes. I looked into it because I thought it might be the traces of the maid who was caught last time, but the footprints left inside are estimated to be those of an adult male and were created only two or three days ago. I believe that at least two adult males are currently infiltrating the palace somewhere.”
As Jason said, when he shined the light on the floor, he saw the footprints of two or more people.
Carsis, who was looking at them carefully, asked.
“Where exactly in the Rose Palace did this passage lead?”
“It was the reception room on the first floor.”
“The first-floor reception room...”
At those words, Carsis' eyebrows twitched.
The place where the maid and Ellie were supposed to meet was the third-floor study.
The secret passage is on the first floor, so why did they have to meet in the study on the third floor?
That meant there wasn't just one secret passage leading to the Rose Palace.
'Tsk.'
There is usually only one secret passageway per palace.
There were already at least two secret passages that could only be expected in the Rose Palace.
That means there are many more secret passages in Sollerian.
Maybe there are some all over the room.
It would be nice to have a separate blueprint, but secret passageways are usually not included in blueprints.
Even those who created secret passages were immediately killed, and no one other than the royal family was made aware of the existence of the secret passages.
“Is this abandoned palace the only passageway we’ve discovered so far?”
“Yes. For now, there is only this passageway connecting to the Rose Palace.”
Something was strange.
It's been quite some time since he started to investigate the palace extensively.
And yet, the only secret passage he discovered was in this abandoned palace.
From the remnants' point of view, it was also a passage that they would not suffer any loss even if they knew about it.
Furthermore.
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